Variable speed and power transmission



VARIABLE SPEED AND POWER TRANSMISSION Nov. 30, 1948. v l F. J. MoRlTH2,455,082'

VARIABLE SPEED AND PwER TRANSMISSION Filed April 9. 19'45 2 Sheng-sheet2 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Nov. 30, 1948 ZASBZ PAY-TENT`` GFFICE VAR'IABIJEI. SBEEDAND??OW-EB.Y 'f

TRANSMISSION Franklin;J."Moritlr,' Huntington Park, Calif.

ApplioationtAprili); I1945, Serial No `587,321 7 oiaims,. (c1. 741-294.)

This ..invention irelates ,-.to yporrenv transmissiori` andparticularlypertains .tofa variableispeedend power transmissionfof thetypefinAwhichthe ratio., l between a drive andfardrivenshaittofwhicllrthofvtransmission; is applied.` .mayl be automatically variedldirectly 5 by -,the.load-fonthe drivenizshatt..

An objectvfof: the I.invention :.is cj.to=A .providei a mechanismfor-:transmittingipowersfrornqa ...drive y shaft tof/a` driven-shaftwith `Varyingg-ratios'faocording, to loadss;imposed. orrV the fdriven.,shaft which will aiTord. 4an: .innitewnumber on ratios betweenv the.driveshatt andnthefsdriven shaft., Another object` isto-tprovide.. atransmission mechanism of theabovepharactenin-*which Vthe transmissionof-fgvariable speed ,and.. powers. froml a drivev to Fa driven shaftis.'eiected-tlipough .the

medium; ofsarotary pumpthaturnin movement of which.- isfeithe1...inhibited 0114 Varied *4f-rom, stati-c to unrestrained., or,:free .Y rotationk by ,automatically con trollingthe discharge... of,liquid. ifromzthe :pump

through: theA mediumof.: ai governonontrolled relief .-valve operating,in; .response to( variation l `in .l speed of the dri-ve shaftandload,lwhich mechas nism embodies,:.an .arrangment ofi .Darts rwhich maybeY--readily assembled, andiwhich is highly .r

efficient in. operation..

With the foregoingoobjects qineview.; together with `such other...objects. land; .advantages .as may subsequentlyy appear, the @inventionresides in, the

parts.. kand in. .the combination.. Mconstrnction,landarrangement of.parts V.hereinafterdescribed. I.and claimed, and .illustrated A`by lway.oiexampledn they accompanyingdrawing,.in.which f Fig. l .is a.vien/Nin..end:elevationtottha-transe.

mission,` housingg-.

Fig.. 2 is: aiviewsin vert-ical ,sectionswitnnfparts i .showingI thetransmissionassembly;:-v

Fig; 3 is .a .detail Vvin. elevationaridsection oi-fa pump element`.employed ,in the. assembly;

Figs. Il, 5 and 6 are,diaSiISJHS-depicting3th@.Gpsik eration of thegovernor controlled relief valve` Ref-erringyitothe drawings umorefspeciiically;l A indicates .a drive sl1aftar1dl3;` denotes. a driven sha-itextending inA` axial alignments with-the drive. shaft'with `one endthereoiydispos-ed vcon tiguous the outer end ofpthehlatter.

Encompassing.; the' contiguous, ends. ofe the shafts A and Bis.atransmissionhousing C which comprises end` sections-1 and '.-8 fandan intermediate section-19.` The s end @sectional 1 embodies a`cylindrical sidewall Illf` and-l anH-end wall l l `whichlatteniaxedly--seouredf tol la collar I 2 rattached tothedriivefshaftAes, byafpkey a; the..r .w.all....k| I being@ connected.toathefccoll-ar; .by

screws.l3. The intermediate section 9 consti-V, tutesa wall .exten ding,parallelto thev end wall Il Whicnwall-sectionl'is:detachably secured tothe-outer .end ofthe cylindrical Wall i8 of section .1 as by screws ,|4.The-wall section 9 is formed with a .hubflintopwhich V'the Aouter end vof. the.. drive shaftA extends.;` the drive shait and hub being.interconnected asnloyla Akey I6.` Theeend section 8 embodies an end.wall l i anda flanged annular sdQWall .l 8 -v whiclris detachablysecured,

to theintermediate wallsection 9 asbyibolts I9. A vhub 20 ,is `formed oniheeruir Walid?A into...

which the` shaft B extends; the,l'iubbeing,fittedY with bearingsA y2|and 22 affording a rotary mountfy -ingfortheshaft B vandthebnter portionl. oip

curedto y.the .wall sectiongQby screws 26; The

pump, includes a rotaryoshaft 2li `wloiolfr extends through. the lwallj)and across the compartment E and has its outer endupported. `inebearings28 carried by the .endwall 8 ofthe housingsecf,

30,.tion C. A pinion, 29-on the shaft 21 meshesyvith a gear Wheel 3l]arranged in the compartment. E and. ,xed ,on .the` driven` shaft B.kThe. pump- F comprises essentially., a positive. actionspu'mp oftherotary'type. and .may beef. any. suitable..`

, construction... It .ishere shown as consistingof a.:

conventional pump; now'on. the market embodyingI aseries-0inpistons3l..connected tothe. pump,l shaft-21 zin,.ann1i larrelation. thereto-by connect-....- ing lrods 3'2 ,having ballv 4andsocket connections 33 carried-.Online innercr.1.d..of..the,purrirrshaft.`

TheU pistons y,3l are reciprocable in associated...

pump Cylinders.. y35 opening. to@ chamber. 36 ,in the outer end portionof Hthe pump housingittedp'` with' anhintake t3'!y and an outlet; ThepnrnpK inlet 3'!l is normally closed by a springfpressed l inwardlyopening ballvalve 39. connects with a conduitv 40 which leads to theVVupper endofthe. housing vil Lof arelief valve G arrangedin'the'compartment D and. hereshown housing, 124.'y

The relief valve G is constructedfinttheiash-Vionillustrated;schematically in Figs. 4, 5 and y6 andaremb odios,anieintake passage fl 2 f; with which thefpumpeoutlet;conduit@iconnects.;A y

The outlet 38 Leading from the valve intake passage 42 is a passage 43leading and opening to a valve bore H in the valve housing which housingembodies an intermediate chamber 44 with which the passage 43communicates and end chambers 45 and 46. The valve bore H is providedwith a valve seat 41 at the juncture of the chambers 44 and 45 and witha valve seat 48 at the juncture of the chambers 44 and 46. The chamber45 is reduced relative to the chamber 44 while the chamber 46 isenlarged relative to the chamber 44. The end chambers 45 and 46 open tothe compartment D in the housing C through a passage 49.

A pair of connected valve elements 56 and 5| are mounted in the valvebore H and are arranged to cooperate with the valve seats 41 and 48 tocoincidentally open or close communication between the intermediatechamber 44 and the end chambers 45 and 45. The valve elements arenormally held in an open position under the urge of a spring 52interposed between the valve element 56 and the end wall of the chamber45 and which spring 52 manifestly opposes movement of the valve elementsto their closed position. By providing the pair of valve elements thevalve unit is balanced.

A piston 53 is mounted in a cylindrical passage 54 extending axially ofthe valve chamber H and leading from the chamber 45 to the valve intakepassage 42. The piston 53 is provided with a stem 55 which is arrangedto abut the outer end of the valve assembly whereby the piston will actupon being subjected to pump pressure, to

effect opening of the valve elements orto retard closing thereofindependent of the spring 52.

The valve elements 50 and 5| are carried on a stem 56 rprojecting fromthe valve housing 4| and connected to its outer end with a centrifugalgovernor J arranged in. thefcompartment D and carried by the wallsection 9. This governor is here shown as comprising a rocker arm 51pivoted at 58 to a bracket 59 carried by the Wall section 9, one end ofwhich rocker arm is pivoted at 60 to the valve stem 56 and is fitted atits opposite end with a ily weight 5|. The rocker arm 51 is mounted toswing on a plane extending diametrically through the shaft A so that thefly weight 6| will respond to the action of centrifugalcforce, developedby rotation of the housing The spring 52 is of sucient tension to morethan counterbalance the fly Weight 6| so that when the parts arestationary or slowly revolving the valve elements will be maintained intheir open position as shown in Fig. 4 in which position the flow ofliquid from the pump through the relief valve G will be unrestricted. ItWill be understood that the chamber D in the transmission housing willbe filled with a suitable liquid such as an oil of the characteremployed in hydraulic equipment and which liquid is subject to beingdrawn into the pump through the intake 31 on rotation of the pump shaft21 and be delivered through the relief valve G back into the chamber D.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the valve elements and 5|are in their open position shown in Fig. 4, allowing for unrestrictedflow of liquid through the relief valve G, the pump F may freelyoperate.

When the parts are thus positioned the drive shaft A may be rotatedwithout effecting rotation of the driven shaft B since the rotation ofthe transmission housing C with the drive sha-ft A will cause thepinions 29 to freely traverse the gear 30, which ordinarily is heldstationary by the load imposed on the lshaft B, thus rotating the pinion29 and effecting operation of the pump. In like fashion rotation of theshaft B relative to the shaft A will turn the pinion 29 and effectoperation of the pump.

On accelerating rotation of the drive shaft A and housing C such thatthe y weight 6| of the governor J will overcome the spring 52 the valves50 and 5| will move toward their closed position as shown in Fig. 6.This will cause pressure from the pump to build up in the valve intakepassage 42 and thereby impose pressure on the .piston 53 such as to movethe latter outwardly and cause the stem thereof to abut the valveassembly and thereby oppose closing of the valve, thus placing the valvein a oating relation between the action of the fly Weight 6| and thepiston 53. Resistance Will now be offered to the operation of the pumpwhich resistance will be transmitted to the pinion 26 so as to opposerotation of the latter and thereby effect a driving action of the pinionon the gear 36 and the driven shaft B, thus effecting transmission fromthe drive shaft A to the driven shaft B at a ratio dependent upon theload on shaft B and the R. P. M. of the drive shaft. It will be seenthat the valve G controls operation of the pump which in turn controlsturning movement of the `pinion 29 so as to govern the ratiobetween thedrive and the driven shaft. The heavier the load on the driven shaft Bthe lower the ratio and the lighter the load the higher the ratio.

At a predetermined load and R. P. M. of the drive shaft ydetermined bythe relative action of the spring 52 andk the ily Weight 6| the valveelement's will move to their closed position shown in Fig. 5 under theurge of the governor. When the valve parts are in this positionoperation of the pump will be blocked since the circulation of the pumpliquid will be stopped. The pinion 29 will then be held against rotationso as to cause the gear 30 to rotate with the housing C thus effectingconnection from the drive shaft A to the driven shaft B at a one to oneratio.

The moment at which the valve opens under the urge of the spring 52 maybe regulated by adjusting the tension of the spring which may beeffected by placing one or more washers or shims 62 between an end ofthe spring and its abutment to increase its tension, or to remove suchshims to decrease the spring tension.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention,I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction set forth,and the invention embraces such changes, modications and equivalents ofthe parts and their formation and arrangement as come Within the purviewof the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a transmission mechanism embodying a drive shaft, a driven shaft,and a liquid containing housing encompassing meeting ends of said shaftsaiTlXed to the drive shaft and turnable relative to the driven shaft, agear wheel Xed on said driven shaft, a positive action rotary pumpcarried by said housing having an inlet and an outlet, said inletadapted to admit liquid from the housing to the pump, a relief valve, aconduit leading from said pump outlet to said valve, said valve havingan outlet leading to the interior of said housing, spring meanseffective normally to maintain said valve open to permit free fluid flowbetween said pump and said valve outlet, a centrifugal governor carriedby said housing, and connections between said governor and said valve;said governor and connections being constructed and arranged to closesaid Valve partly or wholly under the action of centrifugal force withresultant restriction or prevention of the discharge of liquid from saidDump.

2. The structure called for in claim 1 together with means responsive topump pressure for restraining closing of said valve counter to saidgovernor.

3. The structure called for in claim 1 together with a piston embodiedin said valve arranged to tend to open said valve and to hold it openinde-- pendent of the valve opening spring.

4. In a transmission mechanism, a liquid con taining housingya driveshaft to which said housn ing is affixed, a rotary positive action pumpcarried by said housing adapted to circulate the liquid Within thehousing, a driven shaft, a gear wheel fixed on said shaft, a piniongeared to said wheel attached to said pump, and valve means forinhibiting or restricting flow of the liquid from said pump and operableto permit free flow of liquid through the pump to control turningmovement of said pinion or prevent turning movement thereof, said valvemeans including an element responsive to uid pressure generated by saidpump and an element responsive to centrifugal force connected togetherfor operation in opposition to each other.

5. In a transmission mechanism, the combination with a drive shaft and adriven shaft of a liquid containing housing xed on said drive shaft, arotary shaft carried by said housing, gear connections between saidrotary shaft and said driven shaft, a pumping element carried by saidhousing connected to said rotary shaft operable thereby to pump liquidin said housing, a valve adapted to prevent retard or permit freedischarge of liquid from said pump, a governor carried by said housingcontrolling the operation of said valve and means incorporated in andforming a part of said valve constructed and arranged to respond tofiuid pressure generated by said pump and by such response to oppose theaction of said governor.

6. In a transmission mechanism embodying a drive shaft, a driven shaft,a liquid containing housing xed on said drive shaft, and a rotary pumphaving an intake and an outlet and carried by said housing and geared tosaid driven shaft, said pump being adapted to pump the liquid in saidhousing; of a valve structure associated with said pump having an inletconnected to the pump outlet, and having an outlet opening to theinterior of said housing, a balanced valve element in said structure,spring means normally retaining said valve element in an open positionand opposing closing of said element, a governor carried by saidhousing, connections between said governor and said valve element; saidgovernor -being arranged to close or partly close said valve element inopposition to said spring under the urge of centrifugal force and meansresponsive to pump pressure constructed and-arranged to oppose theclosing of said valve element independently of said spring.

7. The structure called for in claim 6 in which the pump pressureresponsive means comprises a cylinder opening to the valve inlet, and apiston in said cylinder abutting said valve element.

FRANKLIN J. MORITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,953,551 Bullock Apr. 3, 19342,019,849 Foster Nov. 5, 1935 2,197,165 Webster Apr. 16, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 664,895 France Sept. 11, 1929

